Costumed Coral

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Today's nail art started out being a possible holiday nail art idea, but ended up being something totally different. I liked it after I added the gold, but felt like it needed more, so I mentally scanned my nail polish collection to find a polish that would compliment both colors, and I came upon my Lotus Herbals Orange Alert, which was a gift from Chris when he came back from India, and happens to be one of my favorite polishes (and most rationed) in my entire collection. I can't get a proper picture of it, but it is the precise color of papaya flesh- that coral/orange/red combination, and I adore it. After adding the Orange Alert, it took on a look of coral and gold costume jewelry, not the original holiday look I was intending to make when I started! I actually like it better this way I think!!

If you just want to start simple with the brine, use 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup kosher salt, a couple bay leaves, a sprinkling (15-20) black peppercorns and 6-8 allspice berries. Bring to a simmer in a large sauce pan with several cups of water and stir until all salt and sugar is dissolved. Pour into container your going to brine in and add several cups of ice to chill and dilute brine. Now I use a 30 qt stockpot for a 22 lb or so bird. Once I place the bird into the stockpot the brine nearly covers it using my measurements or I sometimes add a wee bit more water. If your bird is smaller (or you're using a small cooler or something) you will probably need to double the amounts for the brine. We do it in the pot so it will fit in the fridge but we've also done it in a cooler in which we packed ice over the bird, put the cooler in the garage and turned the turkey ever couple hours. Don't know if Vegas is cold enough for that.

I think if you start with a more basic brine, you can experiment with altering or adding more complex flavors with each additional turkey until you get it the way you like it. I have discovered that although I love using citrus with roasted chicken, I don't care for it with turkey, at least not at Thanksgiving.

And Costco had fresh turkeys for 89¢. Got one last year and it was delish.

So pretty, I love that berry color u used as a base! Ok, for brining (seriously once u brine, you will never cook a turkey w/out brining again!) I stick w/the basics, but there are a million recipes out there, it all depends on how much flavor u want to add into your turkey. My recipe changes every time I make it. Here is what basically is in my brine: 1 cup kosher salt (if using table salt, u want to cut this in half) 1 cup brown sugar (helps make the skin a pretty golden brown, you can use regular sugar if you like) Put sugar and salt in some water, and bring to a boil. It helps to dissolve the salt/sugar mixture so that it doesn’t sink to the bottom. In a large nonreactive container (glass/plastic etc) add salt/sugar mixture; add more water to cool to a safe temp. Add your spices and aromatics. For spices, I like the usual thyme, rosemary, sage, (parsley sage rosemary and thyme lol- if using fresh I like to hit them w/the back of the knife a few times to bruise them to release the flavor, dry spices are completely fine, it’s up to you) and some peppercorns. You can also add some red chili flakes, or cayenne if u want to add a little heat. Now for some goodies, slice in half any or all of the following: Lemon(s) Orange(s)Onion(s)Garlic (slice bulb in half and throw it in)It really is up to what u want, you can’t put too much in, you can stop at just salt sugar and water and still have an amazing turkey! Once all your goodies are in the mix, add the turkey, then add more water to cover, I always add ice too. Brine it up to 24 hours, not usually less than 8 in a nonreactive container, plastic/glass etc. and keep it cold!Let us know how it turned out!

Oh..Sandi, you post didnt show up b4 mine lol, or I wouldnt have gone into my whole novel! I agree w/starting out w/a simple recipe! One thing I forgot to add, is when making your gravy, do not salt w/out tasting, ur drippings add a lot of salt from the brining. so adjust accordingly! And always rinse your turkey after you pull it out of the brine.

That is a lovely design, and I think it works perfectly for Thanksgiving! Very warm, very rich, very festive!! I have several notebook pages of ideas to try for the holidays, I just need to get time to DO them!! I think I'm gonna work on false nails, just for the ability to work on more than one at once!

But yea, this one is really, really nice. I think your mojo is back! =P

About Me

Hi all, and welcome to my blog project. I completed my original challenge/plan to do 365 different nail designs in 365 days on October 13, 2010. I now continue to do designs as I have time because I love it! If you have any ideas, or just want to contact me, my email address is thedailynail@gmail.com